Thursday, September 29, 2011

I'll Believe It When I See It


Slow Bob got the transfer! But that don’t mean anything. (I’d like to stop right here and tell you that I know my English is not always correct—I should have said, “That doesn’t mean anything,”—but I am writing how I speak, just like I would if we were sitting across the table from each other having a cup of coffee. Not to say I always know what’s correct English. However sometimes I know when it’s not right and I do it anyway.)

So Bob got the transfer. We got more hay yesterday anyway.
Even though everything looks pretty good at this point, I have no faith that it will actually happen. According to Bob’s banker, the only thing we’re waiting for now is the appraisal. Since we keep lowering the price every time we lose a buyer and put it back on the market, the last appraisal is twenty thousand dollars higher than what Bob is paying. And since we never stop working on it (since the last appraisal, we’ve painted ceilings, put pea gravel in the tractor shed, installed a new ceiling light, put ferns on the porch…) the amount of the appraisal shouldn’t be a problem.

The loan officer said, “Just as long as there are good comps, we should be good to go!”

I assured her, “Oh yeah, there are plenty of good comps!”

But there aren’t. I live in a town of about a thousand people. We’re out in the middle of nowhere. And this is a place people don’t move away from. People stay here. What are the chances that, at any given time, there will be a farm exactly like mine for sale?—a four bedroom house with one bathroom and with real horse facilities including a riding arena on ten acres? There’s a house for sale down the block right now. It has two acres, three bathrooms, no horse facilities and it’s on the highway. There’s another one in the other direction that has around the same acres as mine and a similar horse barn. But no house. (Of course serious horse people don’t care about houses. Just give us a barn with water and electric and a place to plug in the coffee pot so we can make a bran mash for the old guy in the winter.) A couple of miles down the road there’s an old dairy farm on sixty acres for sale. None of them are really comparable to mine. What are they going to want? A cookie-cutter house in the middle of a development that’s the same as all the other ones except the kitchen is beige and not blue?

So it’s going to depend on how much of a stickler Bob’s bank is going to be. And that means I had to go and get more hay.

16 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

I know you don't want to get your hopes up but maybe this time is the charm. I've got my fingers crossed for you that the deal goes through this time. Good luck.

Christina said...

Lets keep everything crossed. It will work out eventually.

Chris said...

Keeping fingers crossed.....

CountryDew said...

Hoping for you. You can always resell the hay.

Best of luck, Deb.

Sloan said...

I don't blame you for not believing it but I think this one is gonna work for you and you will be home before you know it!

gingerhillery@mac.com said...

The comps are the killer. It is like trying to compare our farm, 20 acres rolling hills, water, road frontage and convenience and big house and barns with the 20 acre property with 18 acres woods built on the side of the mountain and hour from town. I hope the right person is in charge of all Bob's number crunching. Saying a prayer, knowing that you won't regret buying the hay,no matter what.

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

I've got my fingers crossed for you.

Unknown said...

Best of luck!

Leonora said...

Pray for the best and be ready for the worst. It sounds like you have it covered.
Praying for you (and Bob)!

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

Ginger, you're right about that. It's not fair to compare a piece like yours against the one that's all wooded on the side of the mountain. But listen, since real estate is kind of my hobby, lol, I just did a search and found your place. You MUST get pictures on there right away! And you also need to put in the description that it backs up to the Jefferson National Forest. That is MAJOR for a horse person! I only stumbled upon it because I saw a lighter color of the map peeking through so I scrolled over. For that price range, I would ask them to put 25 pictures on there. That is a beautiful place and I can only imagine the kitchen.

Beth said...

Hey there, Debi. Sorry to be out of touch...but I have been thinking of you. And saying prayers that it will work out for you this time. Here's hoping that you'll end up selling the hay to Bob. He'll need it when he moves in, right? :-)

Ms. Shypoke said...

Backing up to public land is certainly a plus.. it means little to no chance of development.. plus... they may allow hunting on that land (with proper permits of course).. and that may appeal to the "man" of the house..or to someone without horses

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

Leonora, I am still trying to comment on your blog. No go. I wanted to say that we've used horse products on our hair! And that is so cute--the baby hanging in the refrigerator!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

...but I can see your "I can't comment" comment! Heeehehhe!

Loads of people are havin' problems on both embeded and pop~up style comments. I think blogger is ill!

Hopefully this time it's a go for ya'll. Keep the faith sister!!!

My prayers are with ya'll. God bless and have an incredible day sweetie!!!

Unknown said...

your house looks beautiful despite the hassle that it gives you! the bank hasn't wanted to give me a loan for a house (even though mortgage would be less than my rent!) so I know the banks are being difficult. fingers crossed for mr. bob.

Corinna

Tanya Breese said...

catching up on all this house selling drama....gah!